Chapter Text
(3rd pov)
Annabeth absolutely hated her dad. He stood by and let his new wife be cruel and mean to her. There was no reason for her to be so mean, well, except for the monsters. But it’s not like they target her or Annabeth’s half-siblings! She was the one that was being attacked by creatures that should only exist in myths and legends. It wasn’t fair!
So she’d run away. It was the only thing that made sense in seven year old Annabeth’s mind; no one wanted her at home, so she wouldn’t stay at home anymore.
She found Luke and Thalia, and they became their own family. They protected each other in a way that Annabeth’s father and stepmother never had. They fought monsters and travelled what felt like the whole world, but they never really left the Northeast area. For Annabeth, she finally felt like she belonged. For Luke and Thalia, they finally felt like they had something to live for other than just surviving.
Then Grover found them. He said there was a place called Camp Half-Blood where they could be safe and wouldn't have to fight monsters all the time. He was meant to only find Thalia, but he said that as a satyr, he couldn't leave Luke and Annabeth behind. So they went on one last adventure together as a family before they were going to be safe.
But fate sucks. So, of course, that was the time that the Furies decided to go after the family and Grover. They were about to cross the border that marked the boundary of Camp Half-Blood when Thalia turns and calls on her shield, Aegis. She told them to keep running and that she would cover their escape.
She didn't make it.
As Grover, Luke and Annabeth went down to the Big House, as Grover called it, Luke had to drag Annabeth across the camp because she was kicking and screaming to get Thalia back. She couldn't believe that Thalia was gone.
As the years went by, Annabeth trained and trained and trained and trained.
And trained.
Whenever someone told her to pause or take a break, she would glare at them and say "I'm doing this for Thalia."
She waited for a quest so that she could test if her skills were as good as they could be.
She waited for a long time. Luke went on a quest, but it didn't end very well. Still, Annabeth was undeterred. She knew that the right person would come eventually, and then she would go on a quest and it would turn out better than Luke's. She would finally do something better than him.
Then he came. The one who was going to receive a quest and pick her to go with him. She was finally going to prove her worth, and maybe her mother, the Great and Knowledgeable Athena, would pay her some attention.
Sure enough, he got called to a quest and picked her to go with him. It was dangerous; they were trying to find Zeus' Master Bolt, which had been stolen. They encountered all sorts of monsters and almost died a few times, but they retrieved the Bolt and returned it to Zeus. They returned to camp heroes, and Annabeth got all the glory she could want.
Then, a few weeks later, the letter arrived.
Her father wanted her to stay with him for the school year.
The AUDACITY!!! He had left her to the mercy of her stepmother and never lifted his voice or a finger to stop her.
There was no way in Hades' Kingdom Annabeth was going to stay with him.
Three-ish Weeks Later (Annabeth pov)
I watched as Luke spun and twisted with deadly grace and hit all the practice dummies in fatal or uncomfortable areas with uncanny accuracy. He was a master of the sword, and there was nothing I wanted more than to be that good with my knife. I was good, but I was definitely not as good as Luke, even though we've been training for almost the same amount of time. He was just too good.
It was getting dark, so I called to him. "Luke! It's almost time for dinner!"
He grinned up at me from where he was standing, covered in arena dust, and I felt my face heat up. "Be right there, Annie. Just let me get cleaned up."
I nodded and raced to where my cabin was waiting for me. I ignored their pointed looks and snide glances and started walking to the dining pavilion when the conch horn sounded. When we got there, I sat as far away from the Hermes table as possible, just to show that I didn't need Luke for everything. I could feel him looking at me. It had become tradition to sit close to each other since we got to camp and only knew each other.
Although, then we had both been in the Hermes cabin because neither of us had gotten claimed yet.
I ate quickly, because I had a meeting with Percy about something that didn't really make sense from our quest. I think it was a line in the prophecy, and I have tried to get him to understand that the more you try to figure out a prophecy the harder it is, but he just wouldn't listen.
After I finished, I got up from the table and nodded to Percy to let him know that I was ready for our meeting. He nodded back and quickly finished what was left on his plate.
We met at the shore of the lake. Percy had wisely brought a blanket to sit down on, and we spread it out and sat down. Once we'd gotten comfortable, I turned to him and said, "Percy. If this is about the prophecy-"
"I know, I know. The harder you work to understand it the harder it will be, blah blah blah. I just can't get it out of my head."
I didn't need to ask him which part was still in his head. There was only one line that wasn't fulfilled during our quest:
You shall go west, and face the god who has turned
You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned
You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend
And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end
"Percy, we have no way of knowing who the friend mentioned could be. None of your friends would do anything to harm you. Grover is too sweet and would probably have to be completely convinced that you would destroy all of nature, Luke wouldn't do that, he cares too much for you, and..."
"You wouldn't do it because I got you out of Camp for a quest."
I cocked my head to the side. He considers me a friend enough for thinking that the line could apply to me? I was flattered, but I shoved the feeling to the side to think. "Do you have any other friends?"
He tilts his head in a manner similar to mine, and says ,"Not unless you count the horses."
I think he's serious for a second, but then his face splits into a grin so like the trademark Hermes grin I forgot who I was with for a second. I punched him in the arm. "Hey!"
"If you don't want me to hit you, then take this seriously! You know that we're only thinking about human friends. Now answer the question!"
He seems to think for another second, then shakes his head. "No, I really only have Luke, Grover and you as friends. If it said enemies I think I would have been able to figure it out so much easier." he mumbled the last bit, most likely thinking about Clarisse and her goons that haven't left him alone since he got to camp, and only got worse after the quest.
A movement catches the corner of my eye. Someone was heading into the forest, and based on their body language, they were up to no good. They were hunched over and were carrying a sword in one hand. "Percy..."
He followed the direction of my eyes to the edge of the forest. He sucked in a breath, obviously finding this as strange as me. "Annabeth... I think that's Luke."